4 Research positions "Non-Territorial Autonomy as Minority Protection in Europe" (ÖAW Wien)

4 Research positions "Non-Territorial Autonomy as Minority Protection in Europe" (ÖAW Wien)

Arbeitgeber
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Ort
Wien
Land
Austria
Vom - Bis
01.04.2018 -
Bewerbungsschluss
04.12.2017
Von
Börries Kuzmany

The European Research Council funded research project „Non-Territorial Autonomy as Minority Protection in Europe: An Intellectual and Political History of a Travelling Idea, 1850–2000“ (NTAutonomy) invites four prospective candidates (3 PhD candidates and 1 Postdoc researcher) to become part of a team of five researchers. The following positions will be filled:

1. Interpreting Non-territorial Autonomy in Late Habsburg and Interwar Hungary
2. The Baltic States and the Transnational Approach of Minority Activists to Non-territorial Autonomy, 1918–1940
3. The Sudeten Germans and Non-Territorial Autonomy for Interwar Czechoslovakia
4. Non-territorial Autonomy in Revolutionary Russia and the Early Soviet Union

The Project in its Entirety
NTAutonomy explores the history of non-territorial autonomy, which was a means of granting cultural rights to a national group as a corporate body within a state. The project investigates this form of national self-rule as both an intellectual concept and an applied policy across Europe. We will examine the origins of this idea in both parts of the Habsburg Empire and conduct research on how this concept travelled to the interwar period. Starting from the assumption that non-territorial autonomy was not specific to a particular political current, we will analyse how this concept translated into the early Soviet Union, the socialist Ukrainian People’s Republic, the liberal democracies in the Baltic States, and the far-right Sudeten German Party in Czechoslovakia. Finally, we want to trace non-territorial autonomy elements in the policies of European minority protection institutions until the present day.
For more information on the project, please refer to the principal investigator’s website:
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/boerries.kuzmany/en/research/national-personal-autonomy/

1) Research Position on the topic of “Interpreting Non-territorial Autonomy in Late Habsburg and Interwar Hungary“

You will be in charge of the project’s work package that analyses early of non-territorial autonomy concepts in the Hungarian part of the Habsburg Empire. You should furthermore collect material on Hungarian interaction with Austro-Marxist theoretical considerations and reception of the practice in provinces of the Austrian part of the empire. Finally, you should analyse the Hungarian state’s attitude towards non-territorial autonomy in 1918/19 and, more generally, during the interwar period.
You are expected to complete a PhD thesis on a topic in the wider field of your work package and publish preliminary results. You will furthermore participate in the bi-monthly meetings of the project team, discuss your findings, make them accessible in our project’s database, help to organise two conferences, and assist in the maintenance of the project website.

We offer a two-year contract, renewable for one or two years after an interim evaluation. The gross salary is approx. 29,000 € per year, corresponding to 75% (30 h) of a full position. The total duration of employment and the extent of part-time employment is negotiable. Starting date is 1 April 2018.
You will have a fully equipped workspace at the Institute for Modern and Contemporary Historical Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Funding for research missions and participation to international conferences will also be provided.
You will be part of a research team of five scholars in an intellectually ambitious and challenging project funded by the European Union in one of Europe’s most pleasant cities.
The Austrian Academy of Sciences is an equal opportunity employer

You must hold an MA degree (or equivalent), ideally with a scholarly background in nationalism studies and/or the history of nationalism in the Kingdom of Hungary. You should demonstrate an interest in minority issues, legal history and comparative research questions. You need excellent language skills in Hungarian, a very good knowledge of German and English, and you should be familiar with reference management software like e.g. EndNote.

You can apply in German or English before 4 December 2017. Please send the following documents as a single PDF document (entitled: SURNAME, NTAutonomy, application 2017, Hungary) to boerries.kuzmany@oeaw.ac.at
- Short motivation letter.
- Curriculum vitae, including a list of publications (if applicable).
- Name, email and telephone number of at least two referees (no recommendation letters).
- An exposé of your planned PhD thesis. Please outline how your thesis relates to the objectives of NTAutonomy in general and to your specific work package on Hungary in particular (approx. 1000 words, excluding bibliography).
- A writing sample (e.g. an article, or a significant chapter of your MA thesis). It is not necessary that it has already been accepted for publication.
- A certificate of your MA degree.
You will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by the end of January 2018. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews in February 2018.

2) Research Position on the topic of “The Baltic States and the Transnational Approach of Minority Activists to Non-territorial Autonomy, 1918–1940“

You will be in charge of the project’s work package that analyses the liberal approach to non-territorial autonomy in the Baltic States and the legal regulations implemented during the interwar period. While you can focus on one, or preferably two countries, you should still keep all three states and all minorities (Jews, Russians, Germans, etc.) within perspective. You should collect material on the intellectual and practical genesis of non-territorial autonomy in this region, the scope of national self-rule implemented, the institutions of national self-rule, the question of ethnic affiliation and national registers, as well as general state-minority relations. Furthermore, you should analyse political and personal networks of Baltic minority activists with activists from other parts of Europe, in particular in the framework of the Congress of European Nationalities.
You are expected to complete a PhD thesis on a topic in the wider field of your work package and publish preliminary results. You will furthermore participate in the bi-monthly meetings of the project team, discuss your findings, make them accessible in our project’s database, help to organise two conferences, and assist in the maintenance of the project website.

We offer a two-year contract, renewable for one or two years after an interim evaluation. The gross salary is approx. 29,000 € per year, corresponding to 75% (30 h) of a full position. The total duration of employment and the extent of part-time employment is negotiable. Starting date is 1 April 2018.
You will have a fully equipped workspace at the Institute for Modern and Contemporary Historical Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Funding for research missions and participation to international conferences will also be provided.
You will be part of a research team of five scholars in an intellectually ambitious and challenging project funded by the European Union in one of Europe’s most pleasant cities.
The Austrian Academy of Sciences is an equal opportunity employer

You must hold an MA degree (or equivalent), ideally with a scholarly background in nationalism studies and/or the history of nationalism in the Baltic States. You should demonstrate an interest in minority issues, legal history and comparative research questions. You need very good language skills in one, or preferably two of the state languages (Estonian, Latvian, or Lithuanian) and in at least one minority language of these countries (German, Russian, Polish, Yiddish, etc.); English and German reading knowledge is expected. Finally, you should be familiar with reference management software like e.g. EndNote.

You can apply in German or English before 4 December 2017. Please send the following documents as a single PDF document (entitled: SURNAME, NTAutonomy, application 2017, Baltics) to boerries.kuzmany@oeaw.ac.at
- Short motivation letter.
- Curriculum vitae, including a list of publications (if applicable).
- Name, email and telephone number of at least two referees (no recommendation letters).
- An exposé of your planned PhD thesis. Please outline how your thesis relates to the objectives of NTAutonomy in general and to your specific work package on Hungary in particular (approx. 1000 words, excluding bibliography).
- A writing sample (e.g. an article, or a significant chapter of your MA thesis). It is not necessary that it has already been accepted for publication.
- A certificate of your MA degree.
You will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by the end of January 2018. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews in February 2018.

3) Research Position on the topic of “The Sudeten Germans and Non-Territorial Autonomy for Interwar Czechoslovakia“

You will be in charge of the project’s work package that analyses Sudeten German approaches to non-territorial autonomy. While you should focus on Czechoslovakia’s German population, you should keep the country’s other minorities and the state’s official minority policy in perspective. You should collect material on how national compromises in the former Habsburg Empire continued to be discussed and how Austro-Marxist ideas on non-territorial autonomy circulated in interwar Czechoslovakia. You should in particular investigate how the Sudeten German Party developed its concept of an ethnic federation; who were the driving masterminds behind this concept; how they related to non-territorial autonomy considerations; and what role their involvement in the Congress of European Nationalities played.
In addition, you will help the PI in reading Czech sources concerning the compromises in the Bohemian lands before 1918.
You are expected to complete a PhD thesis on a topic in the wider field of your work package and publish preliminary results. You will furthermore participate in the bi-monthly meetings of the project team, discuss your findings, make them accessible in our project’s database, help to organise two conferences, and assist in the maintenance of the project website.

We offer a two-year contract, renewable for one or two years after an interim evaluation. The gross salary is approx. 29,000 € per year, corresponding to 75% (30 h) of a full position. The total duration of employment and the extent of part-time employment is negotiable. Starting date is 1 April 2018.
You will have a fully equipped workspace at the Institute for Modern and Contemporary Historical Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Funding for research missions and participation to international conferences will also be provided.
You will be part of a research team of five scholars in an intellectually ambitious and challenging project funded by the European Union in one of Europe’s most pleasant cities.
The Austrian Academy of Sciences is an equal opportunity employer

You must hold an MA degree (or equivalent), ideally with a scholarly background in nationalism studies, the history of the Bohemian lands, and/or nationalism in Czechoslovakia. You should demonstrate an interest in minority issues, legal history and comparative research questions. You need excellent language skills in Czech, a very good knowledge of German and English, and you should be familiar with reference management software like e.g. EndNote.

You can apply in German or English before 4 December 2017. Please send the following documents as a single PDF document (entitled: SURNAME, NTAutonomy, application 2017, Sudeten Germans) to boerries.kuzmany@oeaw.ac.at
- Short motivation letter.
- Curriculum vitae, including a list of publications (if applicable).
- Name, email and telephone number of at least two referees (no recommendation letters).
- An exposé of your planned PhD thesis. Please outline how your thesis relates to the objectives of NTAutonomy in general and to your specific work package on Hungary in particular (approx. 1000 words, excluding bibliography).
- A writing sample (e.g. an article, or a significant chapter of your MA thesis). It is not necessary that it has already been accepted for publication.
- A certificate of your MA degree.
You will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by the end of January 2018. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews in February 2018.

4) Research Position on the topic of “Non-territorial Autonomy in Revolutionary Russia and the Early Soviet Union“

You will be in charge of the project’s work package that analyses the ехplicit and implicit appropriation of non-territorial autonomy in revolutionary Russia. You should collect material on non-territorial autonomy provisions in Siberia and the Far East during the revolutionary period. You should collect material on the functioning of the People’s Commissariat for Nationalities Affairs and the various national sections of the Communist Party in general, and select one or two minority groups (e.g. Tatars, Germans, Jews, peoples of the north, etc.) to illustrate your research. Finally, you should collect material published in Bolshevik journals on ideological and pragmatic approaches to Soviet nationality policies and potential references to general discussions on non-territorial autonomy.
You are expected to publish your findings in leading peer-reviewed journals and produce a draft of a second book / habilitation on a topic in the wider field of your work package. You will furthermore participate in the bi-monthly meetings of the project team, discuss your findings, make them accessible in our project’s database, assist in the maintenance of the project website, help to organise one conference and participate in editing the conference proceedings.

We offer a two-year contract, renewable for another year after an interim evaluation. The gross salary is approx. 33,000 € per year, corresponding to 65% (26 h) of a full position. The total duration of employment and the extent of part-time employment is negotiable. Starting date is 1 April 2018.
You will have a fully equipped workspace at the Institute for Modern and Contemporary Historical Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Funding for research missions and participation to international conferences will also be provided.
You will be part of a research team of five scholars in an intellectually ambitious and challenging project funded by the European Union in one of Europe’s most pleasant cities.
The Austrian Academy of Sciences is an equal opportunity employer

You must hold a PhD degree or be close to completion, ideally with a scholarly background in nationalism studies and/or the Soviet history. You should demonstrate an interest in the history of nationalism, minority issues, legal history and comparative research questions. You need excellent language skills in Russian, a very good knowledge of English and one, or preferably two minority languages of the Soviet Union (Tatar, Polish, Yiddish, etc.); being able to communicate in German would be an asset but is not a requirement. You should like working in teams and be familiar with reference management software like e.g. EndNote.
How to Apply
You can apply in German or English before 4 December 2017. Please send the following documents as a single PDF document (entitled: SURNAME, NTAutonomy, application 2017, Soviet Union) to boerries.kuzmany@oeaw.ac.at
- Short motivation letter.
- Curriculum vitae, including a list of publications.
- Name, email and telephone number of at least two referees (no recommendation letters).
- An exposé of your planned book project. Please outline how your project relates to the objectives of NTAutonomy in general and to your specific work package on the Soviet Union in particular (approx. 1000 words, excluding bibliography).
- A writing sample (e.g. an article, or a significant chapter of your PhD thesis). It is not necessary that it has already been accepted for publication.
- A certificate of your PhD degree.
You will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by the end of January 2018. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews in February 2018.